The Department of Commerce ranked top 5 in the 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government amongst large agencies for the 12th year in a row! The ranking showcases the Department's continued commitment to increasing our employee engagement, employee satisfaction, and positive perceptions towards diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates.

Duties

The Earthquake Engineering Group develops, advances, and deploys measurement science for earthquake hazards reduction for buildings and infrastructure lifelines in ways that enhance public safety, community resilience, and economic security. If selected, you will lead innovative and transformative research in earthquake and structural engineering, with a focus on developing advanced frameworks for assessing risks to structural and infrastructural systems under multi-hazard scenarios and conditions of material aging and deterioration. This work will address critical obstacles in advancing infrastructure resilience and will be carried out as part of the Earthquake Engineering Group within the Engineering Laboratory at NIST. Key responsibilities include: Studies on Aging and Material Deterioration: Conduct investigations into the long-term performance of infrastructure materials, identifying critical vulnerabilities and interactions caused by environmental changes, reduced capacities, and evolving demands. Data-Driven and AI Research: Develop and apply advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to enhance the speed and accuracy of multi-hazard performance assessments for engineering structures. Uncertainty Quantification: Design innovative approaches to measure and address the impact of uncertainty on the structural performance of buildings and infrastructure, with a focus on practical applications for resilience. Predictive Modeling: Develop and validate state-of-the-art predictive models for determining the remaining life and safety margins of structural systems exposed to deterioration and multi-hazard risks. Computational Multi-Hazard Research: Lead the development of computational methods to evaluate the impacts of material deterioration, including corrosion, on the seismic and multi-hazard performance of structural systems, pushing the boundaries of current fragility modeling techniques. Research Dissemination: Disseminate findings through publications and engagements with research communities, practitioners, and codes and standards development organizations to shape policies, techniques, and best practices. Disaster and Failure Studies: Guide and participate in post-disaster investigations and field reconnaissance missions, translating findings into actionable insights to mitigate the impacts of natural hazards and material deterioration. Strategic Development and Engagement: Represent NIST and provide technical leadership in conferences, workshops, seminars, and professional societies, driving advancements in earthquake engineering, multi-hazard risk assessment, and infrastructure resilience.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
• Suitable for Federal employment
• Bargaining Unit Position: No

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: A. Degree in Engineering: To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR B. Combination of education and experience: College-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: 1. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions. 2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 3. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. 4. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. In addition to the basic requirements above, Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the federal service (ZP-III for NIST employees). Specialized experience is defined as experience in conducting research and/or applying numerical and probabilistic analyses to assess the effects of aging on structural performance, utilizing machine learning to guide mitigation strategies, and quantifying the impact of uncertainties on estimating risks and enhancing future resilience. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. Applicant Reconsideration

Education

This position has an education requirement. Transcripts must be submitted to validate that the education requirement has been met. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application package. However, an official copy will be required before a final offer of employment.

Use of foreign education for qualifications. An accredited organization must evaluate education completed outside of the U.S. to ensure that it is comparable to education received in accredited institutions in the U.S. Click here to view a listing of accredited organizations from the Department of Education's website. A copy of the foreign education evaluation (containing the results with course-by-course listing) is required with your application.

Contacts

• Address Materials and Structural Systems Division 100 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20899 US
• Name: Katerina Andrews
• Phone: 301-975-4387
• Email: [email protected]